Grocer-anchored center planned in Martinez

Posted: July 1, 2014 - 11:08pm | Updated: July 2, 2014 - 2:22am

By Jenna Martin Morris News Service

A new grocery store-anchored shopping center is planned for Martinez, near the Interstate 20 exit.

Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Pole­star Development has submitted a site plan that incorporates a 41,000-square-foot grocery store and 12,800 square feet in additional retail space at 300 S. Belair Road in Columbia County. A fast-food restaurant and fuel station also are targeted uses for the 15-acre commercial development, according to the property’s zoning application.

The developers, who declined to comment further about the project earlier this week, are taking their plans before the Columbia County Commission. They must receive approval to rezone the undeveloped tract from neighborhood-commercial district to general commercial district.

The development, which includes an out-parcel fronting South Bel­air Road, would back up to a row of homes in the Fox Run and Quail Creek subdivisions. County planner Andrew Strickland said his department has gotten little negative feedback from neighbors.

The land sits on South Belair Road between I-20 and Columbia Road.

“Commercial development will inevitably abut residential areas, as this project does,” Strickland said. “Our goal is to ensure that any commercial development is scaled appropriately for its location, and that any activities that could potentially have negative effects on residential development are addressed early in the process.”

With the expected influx of new residents to the area as a result of Fort Gordon’s new Army Cyber Command headquarters, Strickland said he predicts the South Belair Road and Jimmie Dyess Parkway corridor, in addition to the entire Grove­town area, will be a hot spot for developers.

“Commercial development and residential development can coexist very well,” Strickland said. “It’s important that we find the right balance.”